POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Drake University football team cruised to a 41-17 road win over Marist Saturday, Sept. 28 in its Pioneer Football League opener.
Drake (1-3, 1-0 PFL) never trailed Marist (1-3, 1-1 PFL) in its first win of the season. Freshman quarterback
Ian Corwin had a career day with four touchdown passes and 255 yards on 20-of-29 passing.
"We wanted to start fast and talk about starting fast," said Drake head coach
Todd Stepsis. "We came out of the gates scoring the touchdown on the very first drive and what I loved was how we played even harder and we finished with another touchdown going into halftime. To me that that was the difference in the game."
Four different Bulldogs hauled in touchdown passes from Corwin as
Devin Cates,
Steven Doran,
Matt Hartlieb and
Shane Feller all found the end zone. Feller had his first 100-plus receiving day on a career-high six catches for 102 yards.
Drew Lauer paced Drake's ground attack with 75 yards on 15 carries and scored his second touchdown of the season. Freshman
Caden Meis scored his first career touchdown on a 55-yard scamper in the third quarter. Overall, Drake rushed for a season-best 187 yards on 31 attempts.
Drake wasted little time getting on the scoreboard after it forced a Red Foxes' punt on the opening drive. The Bulldogs went 59 yards on six plays in just 2:51, capped by a 22-yard touchdown catch by Cates, who was wide open after a great play action by Corwin. It is the second touchdown of the season for Cates, who switched from wide receiver to tight end in his final season.
Drake snuck in one more touchdown in the first quarter. Corwin hit Feller for a 32-yard touchdown with just six seconds on the clock. Feller made a tight rope catch staying in bounds as he scored his second touchdown this year. The Bulldogs missed the point after attempt, but still led 13-0 after one quarter.
The second quarter started slow for Drake before its offense kicked back into gear right before halftime. Lauer extended the lead with 35 seconds left as he punched the football in from four yards out. The Bulldogs made the PAT but a poor kickoff gave Marist good field position. However, cornerback
Jeran Proctor picked off a pass on the Red Foxes' first play, and returned it all the way to their 21-yard line. Corwin then hit Cates for 17 yards as the Bulldogs took timeout. After the timeout, Corwin found Hartlieb for his first career touchdown catch, with 11 seconds left before halftime. Drake took a 27-3 lead into halftime as Marist got its only points on a Luke Paladino 28-yard field goal with 10:11 on the clock in the second quarter.
Doran's touchdown was highlight reel material as he skied for a 29-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Doran secured the football on his back after initially bobbling the ball. Meis' score came early in the fourth quarter as his run capped a two-play 59-yard drive that lasted just 44 seconds. Doran's capped an impressive 76-yard drive on nine plays on a drive that lasted 4:06.
Marist finally found the end zone with 8:43 left in the third quarter as the score pulled within 27-10. However, Drake answered with back-to-back touchdowns before the Red Foxes scored the game's final touchdown with 6:56 left in the contest.
Danny Morales recorded a career-high nine tackles and
Alex Rogers added eight.
Not only was it a huge team win for Drake Saturday, but the victory was extra special for the program as Stepsis earned his first career win as a head coach. He is in his first season at the helm for the Bulldogs after five seasons as the program's defensive coordinator.
